Calgary Flames vs. Florida Panthers: My thoughts

In what was billed as a “measuring stick” game, the Calgary Flames lost a heartbreaker to the Florida Panthers. Here are my thoughts.

Well that sucked.

It was easy to get excited going into Tuesday’s Calgary Flames game against the Florida Panthers. The Flames were undefeated in their first two games coming out of COVID protocol. And the Panthers represented their first test against a top tier, playoff bound team.

It was a test they clearly failed.

Losing 6-2, it wasn’t so much that that the Flames were bad. It is more accurate to say they were incomplete. And the Panthers were really good.

Defenders Gotta Defend

Whether you love him or hate him, you can’t argue with Head Coach Darryl Sutter’s candor. In his post game media availability, he had this to say:

"We had some defenseman that weren’t into the defending or checking part of the game, and it cost us the hockey game."

It’s hard to argue with him, there. The majority of the Panthers’ goals got past a very heavily screened Jacob Markstrom.  It’s on the defenders to make sure the goalie has a clear view at the shooter.

There is no more glaring example of this than near the end of the first period.  The Calgary Flames were killing a penalty when Panthers’ forward

Joe Thornton

tipped in a goal to make the game 3-2.  Thornton was alone in front of the net and the nearest defender,

Rasmus Andersson

, just couldn’t get there.

Blake Coleman and the Offense

There was no shortage of offense in this game.  The Flames outshot the Panthers 49-45, and dominated the third period with 19 shots to Florida’s 8.  Going deeper, per Natural Stat Trick, Calgary had 19 High Danger Chances to Florida’s 16.  Certainly, a big night from Panther goalie Sergei Bobrovsky played a role on Tuesday.

There was no greater generator of offense than Blake Coleman.  Not surprising, given that his years in Tampa Bay would have harvested a healthy hatred for the rivals up the interstate.  Coleman led the Flames with 12 shots and potted their second goal from an impossible angle.

Coleman’s performance coupled with the Calgary Flames’ otherwise unsuccessful offensive outing punctuated the yet-unresolved issue of secondary scoring.  Granted, they ran into a hot goalie.  But a goal or two more combined with a better defensive effort and this game would have at least been closer.